Elevator lubricator



Patented Nov. 20, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This inventionrelates to lubricating devices and is particularly intended for thelubrication of guide rails for elevators and other apparatus in whichguide rails are employed.

In elevator practice, the elevator cages are guided in their upward anddownward movement by guides or rails which usually are T-shapedstructural members. It is necessary to constantly lubricate these rails,if unsufiicient lubrication is supplied trouble arises, but on the otherhand, if too much lubricant is applied, there is not only the expense ofthe wasted lubricant, but perhaps more important is the resultinguncleanliness, which in many cases is not only unsightly, but may causeactual damage to the clothes of passengers in the elevator. In anendeavor to get away from these troubles a hard grease in stick form,has been adopted and various methods have been tried out whereby toadvance the stick endwise against the edge and sides of the rail. Ingeneral, the advancement of the stick has been by a mechanical step bystep movement, or by the pressure exerted by a spring. Mechanicaladvancement, while having'many advantages, is complicated, on the otherhand where a spring is used difficulty has been experienced owing to theinitial length of the grease stick, to secure a light enough pressure atthe begin ning of the feed without getting an inadequate pressure at theend of the-feed. Difficulty has also been experienced in confining thegrease so that excessive wastage and uncleanliness may not occur.

The primary object of the invention is to'provide a simple andconvenient device through the medium of which lubricant in comparativelyhard,

or stick, form may be applied to the edge and sides of an elevator guiderail;

' Further objects are: I

To provide a device of the character described in which waste of thelubricant is minimized, and" in which an' even distribution of thelubricant particularly to the sides of the'rail is accomplished;

To provide means by which resilient pressure may be applied with aminimum of variation throughout the length of the charge; and generallyTo improve the design of and simplify the con struction of such adevice.

The means by which the foregoing and other objects are accomplished andthe manner of their accomplishment will readily be understood from thefollowing specification by reference to the accompanying drawing, inwhich:

:cant 11.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device showing its relation to theelevator rail; 7

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation taken on the longitudinalcenter line of the device;

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan taken as on the line IIIIII of Figs. land 4;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation on approximately double the scale of theprevious views, a portion of the end of the device being broken away;and

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the opposite end of the device this figurebeing on the same scale as Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive.

Referring now to the drawing in which the various parts are indicated bynumerals, 10 is an elevator rail shown only in Figs. 1 and 3; 11 is afragmentary portion of a stick of the lubri-' cant shown only in Fig. 2.12 is a fragmentary portion of a member forming part of the elevatorcage to which the present device is attached as by cap screws 13. g i

The device comprises a body 14 of hollow structure for the reception ofthe stick of lubri- 15 is a complementary hollow cover, adapted tocomplete with the body a hollow substantially cylindrical casing orbarrel conforming in interior diameter to the size of the lubricantstick to be used therewith. Lugs 16 projecting from the body, andcorresponding lugs 17 from the cover, are pin connected to form hingesconnecting the body and cover. 18 is a spring latch secured to the cover15, and adapted to engage a flange portion 19, of the body, to hold thecover in place when closed.

The body 14, preferably is secured to a bracket 20 as by bolts 21, andthe bracket in turn secured to the elevator member by the cap screw Therear or outer end of the barrel may be closed by a head 22. A hollowfront end 23 forms an extension of the barrel, the extension being ofhollow cylindrical conformation at its juncture therewith, andbeing'slotted to form jaws 24. which lie on opposite sides of the rail10, These jaws are lined with a resilient packing 25, preferably leatherwhich closely embraces the sides of the rail. This lining extends at 26into a cylindrically chambered portion of the extension 23, and ishollowed out at 2'7 in conical form to effect a continuation of thecylindrical bore of the barrel, the passagewaysthus formed terminatingshort of the marginal edges of said lining whereby said lining inconnection with said rail form a closure for said passageways and saidlining acts toevenly distribute the lubricant to the sides and edge ofsaid rail.

The lower portion of the body is provided with a longitudinal slot 30,through which an arm 31 extends into the bore of the device. 32 is adisk or follow block carried by the arm 31. The outer end of the arm isprovided with a head 33 which is slidably mounted on a guide rod 34disposed parallel to the body 14.

The guide rod is carried by brackets 35 depending from the body 14.36-is a flexible connector, "preferably a thin metal tape, one end ofwhich is secured to the arm 31. This tape passes around a pulley 37 andto a reel 38 which is actuated by a spring 39, one end of the spring asusual, being secured to the reel and the other to a hollow shaft 40which also carries aratchet wheel 41, which is integral withthe shaft.42

is a double acting dog having'lugs 42A, 423, which are adapted to bealternately engaged.

with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 41, disengagement of one lugpermitting another tooth of ratchet wheel to move backward againsttheother lug which is disposed in its path. Either of said lugs holdsthe ratchet wheel against rotation by the spring. Such dog also byrocking action allows theratchet wheel toturn, step by step, to loosenthe spring, or to be manually advanced step by step to tighten thespring. Shaft 40' is rotatably mounted on a stud 4 3, which is carriedby a bracket 44, secured to the end braclizet 35.. In use the device ismounted on a convenient portion of an elevator cage to move upward anddownward therewith with the lined jaws 24 engaging the sides of theguide rail 10, and the portion 26 of the lining engaging the edge .ofthe rail. The latch 18 is disengaged, allowing the cover 15 to beopened. Follow block .32 is forced rearwardly against the spring action,and a stick 11, of hard grease dropped into the hollow body 14. Followblock is then released to engage the grease stick and move itagainsttheedge of the rail 10. V If not properly tensioned the spring 39 may beloosened by rocking the dog to permit step by step retro'gression of theratchet wheel and attached shaft 40,017 may be tightened by manuallyturning the ratchet wheel while similarly rocking the dog. j

Pressure of the follow block against the grease I stick, eventuallycauses the grease to flow through the tapering passageways 27 againstboth sides of the rail, the leather jaw lining preventing escape of thegrease outward or upward and downward along either the sides or edge ofthe rail.

Under the action of the grease the leather lining is softened and swellsinto closer contact with the rail, it also acts as a swab to evenlydistribute a thin film of grease on the rail and accomplish that evendistribution of grease which is desired.

It will be obvious that modification of various details hereof may bemade without departing from the spirit of my invention and it is to beunderstood that I do not wish to limit myself to detail except as it maybe set out in the claims hereto appended.

Having described my invention, what I claim is: 1. A device forlubricating elevator rails, comprising a hollow barrel adapted toreceive a'lubricant, a spring actuated follow block therein, said barrelhaving an extension slotted to form jaws adapted to lie on oppositesides of an elevator rail, and a resilient lining carried by said ex-"tension and supported by said jaws, said lining embracing the sides andan edge of said. rail,

and having a bore forminga continuation of the bore of said barrel andtapering on each side toward said rail, said taper terminating inwardfrom the marginal edges of said lining, whereby to form passagewaysleading from said bore to the sides of said rail, the marginal edges ofsaid lining forming means for confining and distributing grease to saidrails.

2. A 'device for lubricating elevator rails, comprising a hollow barreladapted to receive a lubri cant, a follow block therein, and means forexerting pressure on said follow block to advance. lubricant in saidbarrel, said barrel having an extension slotted to form jaws adapted tolie on opposite sides of an elevator rail, and a resilient liningcarried by said extension and supported by said jaws, said liningembracing the sides and an edge of said rail, and having a bore forminga continuation of the bore of said barrel, said bore extending beyondthe edge of said rail, and taperingon each side toward said rail, saidtapered portion terminating inward from the marginal edges of saidlining, whereby to form passageways leading to the sides of said rail,the marginal edges of said lining forming means for confining anddistributing grease to said rails.

3. A device for lubricating elevator rails, .com-

prising a hollow barrel adapted to receive a lubricant, said barrelhaving an extension slotted to form jaws adapted to lie on oppositesides of an elevator rail, and a resilient lining carried by saidextension and supported by said jaws, said lining embracing the sidesand. an edge of said rail, and having abore forming a continuation ofthe bore of said barrel and tapering on each side toward said rail, saidtapering portion terminating inward from the marginal edges of saidlining, whereby to form-'pasageways leading from said bore to the sidesof said rail, the marginal edgesof said lining :forming means forconfining and distributing grease .to said rails; and means for.advancing lubricant within said barrel toward said rail, comprisingafollow block disposed within said barrel, an armcarrying said block andextending outward through said barrel, said bar-.

guide for the outerend. of said arm, a reel carried by said barrel, acoil spring actuating .said reel, and a flexibleconnector secured at oneend to said reel and at the opposite end to said arm, whereby a springof relatively long range of action comparative to the movementof thefol-lowblock may be used and a substantially even spring pres sure beexerted on saidlubricant throughout the entiremovement of said followblock.

4. A device .for lubricating elevator rails, comprising a hollow barreladapted to receive .a 'lubri cant, said barrel having means for leadinglubricant therein to an elevator rail, means for advancing lubricantwithin :said barrel toward said rail, comprising a follow block disposedwithin said barrel, an arm carrying said block and -ex-- tending outwardthrough said barrel, said barrel

